Nepal flash floods LIVE: At least 933 workers trapped in hydropower projects

Devastating floods near the border with China have killed at least 939 people in Nepal, while the number of missing in the country dropped to 3,925, its disaster authority said on Monday (August 31, 2026), as rescue efforts entered a sixth day.

Indian authorities are seeking to identify the bodies, and they are not included in the toll.

Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 dead and 546 people missing in Tibet, taking the overall toll to 955 dead and 4,471 missing. Nepal’s list of the missing includes 592 foreigners. China dismissed claims linking its massive hydropower projects in Tibet to the August 26 flash flood disaster in Nepal, calling them “malicious speculation”.

Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said in a press briefing on Sunday (August 30, 2026) that the mortal remains of victims who could not be identified, including those that were unrecognisable, amputated or decomposed due to prolonged exposure to water, had been buried following “standard and accepted protocols”.

Nepal has sought additional international support, including specialised equipment and technical assistance for tunnel rescue and forensic work, as rescue operations continued after the floods that have killed hundreds and left thousands missing.

During a press briefing in Kathmandu on Monday, Nepal’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said the country had sought essential non-food items and services such as freezers, DNA testing kits and LiDAR from the U.S., relief-specific items like DVI from Singapore, and belly bridges and high-capacity drones from China and Singapore.

So far, Nepal has received airtight bags for the management of bodies, while more are also being delivered.

A team of 18 forensic experts from India specialising in DNA analysis has been in Nepal since August 29.

Devastating floods near the border with China have killed at least 939 people in Nepal, while the number of missing in the country dropped to 3,925, its disaster authority said on Monday, as rescue efforts entered a sixth day.

Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 dead and 546 people missing in Tibet, taking the overall toll to 955 dead and 4,471 missing.

Nepal’s list of the missing includes 592 foreigners.

But the number of missing workers on hydropower projects -- which took the full force of the torrent -- dropped to 639 on Monday from an earlier count of 933.

China on Monday (August 31, 2026) dismissed claims linking its massive hydropower projects in Tibet to the August 26 flash flood disaster in Nepal, calling them “malicious speculation”.

The flash floods, believed to have been triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border, swept through northern and central Nepal last week, killing hundreds, leaving thousands missing and damaging homes, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.

“We noted that experts and official institutions of China and Nepal have made some assessment on the cause of the disaster,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a media briefing in Beijing when asked about criticism blaming Chinese projects.

“According to their analysis, the mudslide was triggered by a collapse of a high-altitude glacier in Nepal,” he said.

At ‌least 590 foreign nationals from ⁠39 countries are ‌missing in ‌Nepal ‌after ⁠the devastating ⁠flood that struck the Himalayan ‌nation last week, the Nepali ‌Foreign Ministry said on Monday (August 31, 2026).

So ⁠far, 323 ‌foreign nationals have been rescued, spokesperson ‌Lok Bahadur Chhetri said.